HARARE — The Zimbabwean government says it has approved a series of measures to address the country’s power supply shortages as extended daily blackouts continue to disrupt homes and businesses.
In a Cabinet briefing Tuesday, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere said the interventions aim to boost local electricity generation and stabilize the national grid.
Presently, Zimbabwe faces a power generation deficit of up to 400 megawatts and relies on importing between 200 and 500 megawatts from neighbouring countries to bridge the gap.
The outages, which start at 6AM. and last until 10PM, leave residents without power for up to 16 hours daily.
“Cabinet approved a raft of measures to enhance the country’s power security,” Muswere said, outlining a strategy that includes the rehabilitation of Hwange Units 1 to 6 under a Build, Operate, and Transfer arrangement starting this year. The plan also involves support from the Mutapa Investment Fund to provide foreign currency for Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which are key to supplementing the nation’s power needs.
The government will also streamline ZESA Holdings’ management and governance structure.
The restructuring is expected to improve efficiency in the struggling Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), which, despite recent tariff hikes, continues to face operational challenges.
To address the growing reliance on solar power, ZESA has been instructed to promote and simplify the net-metering process, allowing solar users to sell excess energy back to the grid.
Muswere noted that this could increase the uptake of solar-generated electricity, reducing pressure on the national grid.
On power losses during transmission, Muswere announced that a joint venture between ZESA’s transmission subsidiary, ZENT, and QLV, a local firm, will focus on manufacturing cables locally to minimize losses and combat theft and corruption in the power sector.
The prolonged blackouts have prompted many Zimbabweans to turn to alternative energy sources, especially solar power.
The government’s efforts to tackle the crisis are seen as critical to achieving the country’s Vision 2030 goal of attaining upper-middle-income status, but public impatience is growing as the energy crisis threatens economic recovery. Kukurigo Updates
